Prologue 2/7/2024

Apparently, we do. But before we begin our journey, let us thank you for traveling along with us on what may prove to be either the most brilliant or most ridiculous travel gamble ever.

The genesis for this trip was an email (part of our daily dose of "travel porn") alerting us that AMA Waterways was offering some amazing deals to entice people to book their "revolutionary AMAMagna" Danube river cruise during the winter months. You may ask, why is AMAMagna revolutionary? Well, if she were a trailer, she would be a double wide, yet despite having twice the onboard space, AMAMagna carries only 30% more passengers, offering larger cabins and balconies, more guest seating areas, a choice of dining venues, a pool, a pickle ball court, and a spa/fitness center.

Needless to say, we recognize that the prices are great because they are testing the market to see if potential clients are bold/insane (pick your adjective) enough to risk traveling in cold and possibly rainy/snowy weather. I already know how cold it can get because (true story) one of the coldest days of my life was spent in Passau in late November, 2016, on our Viking "Grand European" river cruise...so cold that I bought and WORE a hat. That said, we love escaping the winter doldrums, and coupled with a good travel deal, AMA essentially made us an offer we felt we couldn't refuse. SPOILER ALERT: things only got better when the cabin we had booked (lowest level...window views of the ducks swimming) was given a surprise complimentary upgrade to a BALCONY SUITE!

To extend our stay, we bookended the cruise with a pre-cruise extension in Prague and a post-cruise extension in Budapest, welcoming the chance to spend more time in these amazing cities.

Based upon your feedback, we promise to try to remember to take more pictures of the food we consume. Of course, there will be photos of Charlie drinking beer and sitting in churches guarding my purse. There may be too much history, but once a teacher, always a teacher. Enjoy!

We invite you to travel along with us...WiFi permitting!

Photos are tagged Magna